The ESB has lodged plans with Dublin City Council for a €500 million emergency 299MW gas-fired power station adjacent to the Dublin Bay Power Plant at Ringsend as part of a Government-backed effort to avoid energy black-outs in the capital.
In planning documentation lodged with the Council, planning consultants for ESB Engineering and Major Projects, Mott McDonald state that the Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) proposal “will assist in addressing and mitigating risk to power disruption”.
The consultants state that the development, to be powered by natural gas, is to also provide “additional generating capacity during periods of high demand” and “will ensure that supply in uninterrupted”.
They explain that the proposal “is to provide additional generating capacity during periods of high demand or when weather conditions mean that renewable energy sources cannot meet demand”.
Strategic importance
Underlining the strategic importance of the planning application, Mott McDonald state that the OCGT plant “is an important economic and social infrastructure project…and will ensure the energy supply is reliable”.
Mott McDonald state that “the proposed development will provide strategic support to the existing electricity system in the region and the wider grid and would assist in enduring and maintaining the security of electricity support onto the grid, particularly in areas of high demand, like the Dublin city area and greater Dublin metropolitan region”.
The consultants add in their 42-page planning report in terms of economic growth within the Dublin region, “the provision of strategic transmission infrastructure is pivotal in supporting existing economic growth centres”
The documentation states that the OCGT plant “is designed to come on stream quickly as demand on the grid changes”.
Mott McDonald state that the scheme will facilitate greater supply of renewable energy and provide “a fast acting back-up reserve to the system operator during difficult operational periods”.
'National priority'
The need for the development was identified by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) in a September 2021 information paper entitled ‘Security of Supply - Programme of Actions'.
Mott McDonald also point out the proposed development is responding to an imbalance in supply as the electricity system transitions to a low carbon system and ensures that demand is met when supply from renewable energy is insufficient to meet demand.
The planning documentation states that “gas-fired generation is a national priority" and the proposed development is consistent with that.
The consultants state that such a gas plant is needed to sustain power to the grid until diversification of electricity supply is provided to meet demand.
The extensive planning documentation states that the proposed development would result in an upgrading of energy generation infrastructure, which will in turn allow for the transition to renewable forms of energy generation.
The national grid connection for the proposal is to be subject to a separate planning application. A Council decision is due on the ESB plan in March.
*This article has been amended on Friday, January 27th at 8pm
